Archive for September, 2008
It was a phlegmy slide from Friday into Saturday. By 3pm Mike and I still hadn’t eaten a thing, so I turned the about-to-be-chucked stump of (three) day-old French bread sitting on the counter into French toast. I haven’t had French toast in eons, but it was all I could muster making, and although my stomach was rumbling louder than the nearby trains, it was all I could imagine eating.
Coincidentally, I just got an assignment to write a short piece on chicken soup and other food remedies and whether or not there is any substance to the old wives’ tales of cure-alls for the common cold and flu. Since no food lore required me to drown my phlegm in milkshakes, I made a pot of chickenoodle soup instead. Which I haven’t really had an appetite for since I was pregnant – roasted chicken was the worst, for some reason – so Mike ate some, W picked out the meat and noodles, and I ate more grapes, a spoonful of peanut butter and a Coke.
Ginger-Garlic Chicken Soup
There are many ideas of what kind of chicken soup should be administered as cold remedy; spicy soup laced with garlic and chilies is said to clear nasal passages, even temporarily (certainly chile peppers are an excellent source of vitamin C), and while egg noodles are traditional, barley, brown and wild rice deliver complex carbohydrates, fiber, and more vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
1 small rotisserie chicken, or the leftover carcass from a roasted chicken with some meat still attached to the bones
1 small onion, unpeeled and cut into quarters
2 stalks celery, chopped (with leaves)
6-8 cups water
3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 Tbsp. grated ginger
1 tsp. whole black peppercorns
1 cup dry egg noodles, 1/2 cup pearl or pot barley, or 1/2 cup brown and/or wild rice
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 green onion, chopped
salt & pepper
Preheat the oven to 350F. Shred the meat off your chicken (don’t worry if some is left clinging to the bones), chop it and set aside. Place the carcass in the oven and roast for about half an hour; this will darken and enrichen the broth, but it isn’t necessary. Transfer the carcass to a large pot with onion, one stalk of celery, water, garlic, ginger and peppercorns. Bring to a simmer and cook, covered, for about 45 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside until slightly cooled. Pour through a colander or sieve into another pot, and pull any chunks of chicken off the bones and add to the stock. Discard the rest.
Boil the noodles, barley or rice according to the package directions. Bring the broth to a simmer, add the other stalk of celery and the carrot, and cook for about 7 minutes, until they are tender. Add the cooked noodles, chopped chicken, and green onion. Season with salt and pepper and serve hot.
Serves 4-6.
Later, Mike had the last Maple Pumpkin Panna Cotta I had brought home from Thursday’s Thanksgiving segment shoot. Panna cotta – an Italian cream Jell-O – is dead easy to make, far more foolproof than pie, and its cool, smooth lightness is a welcome relief after a big feast. Because it’s served chilled, it can be made a day or so in advance, leaving you more time on the day of the big dinner. As it cools, it separates somewhat into a subtle orange layer topped with a thick band of white cream.
Maple Pumpkin Panna Cotta
3 cups half and half or 18% coffee cream
1 package plain unflavored gelatin
1/2-1 cup canned pure pumpkin puree
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract or maple extract
Pour about a cup of the cream into a medium pot and sprinkle the gelatin over the surface. Let it sit for about 5 minutes to let the gelatin soften.
Set the pot over medium heat and stir, bringing it to a simmer, until the gelatin is completely dissolved. This should take 2-3 minutes. Whisk in the rest of the cream, the pumpkin and maple syrup. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.
Pour the mixture into individual wine glasses, small dishes or ramekins. (If you want to unmold them onto a plate to serve them, spray the ramekins with nonstick spray first.) Put them in the fridge for at least 2 hours, until set. Serves 6.
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September 20 2008 | dessert and soup and sweet stuff | 4 Comments »
Sick today. Full body mutiny. An angel in jeans and cool red boots showed up around noon bearing a cornucopia of grapes – tiny, delicate green interlaken and heavy clusters of dusty indigo concorde grapes fresh from the Okanagan valley via Greyhound. (Angels are actually quite fashionable, you know. Far hipper than me, even on their way to IKEA.)
Until then the idea of food did not appeal, but the juicy, sweet-tart winey grapes were like the food of the gods.
M made W chicken tortellini (from Safeway, tossed with pesto from a jar) for dinner, and I moved tentatively on to a piece of toast to accompany my grapes, which by then I had eaten far too many of.
Ben and Emily were here for the afternoon though, and I had promised we’d make jelly. The apples on my tree are starting to blush at the arrival of fall, and something needed to be done with them quick, before they dropped to the lawn and turned to applesauce. So there are currently pots and pots of apples in varying stages of readiness in the kitchen, and sticky spills all over, but at least she got her teacher gifts done well in advance of Christmas. I think I understand now why Turtles are so popular.
(The floaties in the jelly are cinnamon sticks, which we put into the jars before ladling the hot jelly over. Please note the peanut butter finger smears and dog nose marks on the glass behind; I do take special care when foodstyling.)
Just Plain Apple / Apple-Black Currant / Apple-Plum / Apple-Cranberry / Apple-Mint, -Basil, Rosemary or -Lemon Balm Jelly
As many apples as you have picked off your tree, or bought at the market
A cup or more of currants, pitted and quartered plums, or cranberries (optional)
A handful or two of torn fresh mint, basil or lemon balm
Sugar
Wash, stem and coarsely chop or just quarter the apples and put them in a large pot. (Don’t bother to peel or core them.) Add a few handfuls of black currants or cranberries or a few pitted and quartered plums, if you like. Add enough water to just cover them and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes, until the apples are very soft. Mash the whole lot with a big spoon or potato masher and cook for another few minutes.
Spoon the mixture into a colander lined with cheesecloth (or use a jelly bag if you have one) set over a large bowl or pot, and let the juice drain out. Stir the pulp around a bit if you want to hurry it up.
Measure the resulting juice into a pot (this is easy if you drain it into a pot with measurements marked on the side) and add 3/4 cup sugar for every cup of juice. Bring to a boil over high heat and boil rapidly, stirring often, until the mixture reaches 210°F on a candy thermometer, or until a small amount placed on a cold plate and put into the freezer turns to gel. This should take about 20 minutes.
While it’s still hot, pour the jelly into hot jars, skim off any foam that rises to the top with a spoon, and seal with lids. Set aside to cool. The lids should pop inward as they cool. If any don’t, store them in the fridge.
To make Spiced Apple Jelly, add a couple of cinnamon sticks, about a tablespoon of whole cloves and a tablespoon of whole allspice along with 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar to the apples during the initial cooking (these measurements work for roughly 3 lbs. of apples – use more or less as you see fit).
September 19 2008 | preserves | 7 Comments »
Thanksgiving has come early to the Van R house, thanks to a day of shooting Thanksgiving segments for Living Calgary (CBC TV), during which we shot an extreme makeover, turkey edition that included bang bang turkey and this panini. There was enough left over leftovers to make more when I got home, and I was spurred on by the novelty of having my panini grill back (my sister had borrowed it to make chocolate panini for a staff meeting at work. Yes, chocolate panini. Another day. Maybe tomorrow?)
A panini is just a fancy name for a grilled sandwich, pressed down as it cooks (on both sides simultaneously) in a panini grill; if you don’t have a grill, just cook them in a skillet with another skillet (or pot, or anything heavy) set on top of it to weigh it down. These sandwiches were made with crusty bread brushed with garlicky canola oil (crush a clove of garlic into a small ramekin of oil; brush on the bread) enveloping shredded leftover turkey (OK, it was a Safeway roasted chicken. But it was for TV; who can tell?), chunky cranberry sauce and a couple slices of brie to glue it all together. The crispy bits of brie that squished out the ends were my idea of perfection. (Sorry, I believe I had already picked them off and eaten them before taking the above photo.) Cheesy, crispy bits. I would have named W Crispy Bits if I didn’t think it would come with a lifetime of torment. Who doesn’t love crispy bits? I think I may be getting punchy from lack of sleep and wine milkshakes. (All the alchohol doesn’t cook off, you know.)
Yes – red wine milkshakes! I met my friend Dana (one of my friends Dana) 7 years ago as food stylist for her Calgary book tour. The morning we met I had spontaneously lost my voice. Like completely. And I had to take her around to all these media outlets and set up for her shows and everything, and she was incredibly good about it when I could barely force out a squeak. (In more recent years, a chocolate-pistachio Yule log I made for her got left – by me – on the front step between TV shows and eaten by squirrels. You should have seen the teeny chocolate foot prints all over the plate and steps. Their little rodent eyes must have popped out of their heads when they came around the corner to a giant chocolate log liberally sprinkled with pistachios and little chocolate mushrooms. I successfully recreated it for the noon news, but none of the crew were allowed to eat it afterward due to squirrel lick.)
Anyway, at our first meeting she made Pepto-Bismol pink milkshakes out of vanilla ice cream and red wine that had been reduced down to a syrup with sugar, orange juice and mulling spices, and I thought she was bloody brilliant. I still do.
You will win a lot of friends with this red wine milkshake. (Do warn them first that it’s not strawberry.) With its festive flavours, it’s a good alternative to eggnog, too.
Red Wine Milkshakes
adapted from Dana McCauley, from her Summer 2001 newsletter
2 cups red wine, such as merlot, cabernet sauvignon or pinot noir
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
a few whole cloves
a few allspice berries (optional)
1 cinnamon stick
vanilla ice cream
milk
Combine the red wine, sugar, orange juice, cloves, allspice and cinnamon in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook over medium-high heat for 30-45 minutes, or until reduced to about 3/4 cup. Pour the mixture through a sieve to strain out the spices and cool completely, then refrigerate until cold.
Blend ice cream, milk and syrup to taste in a blender until it’s the consistency you like. Dana recommended 1/2 cup ice cream, 1/4 cup milk and 1/4 cup wine syrup but I found that a little runny for my taste, and in fact after a couple tries just ditched the milk completely!
Makes 3/4 cup of wine syrup, enough for about 4 milkshakes.
(Dana says this syrup is also great as a topping for ice cream or berry shortcakes. I think it would make a fine homemade ice cream.. don’t you?)
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September 18 2008 | beverages and sweet stuff | 2 Comments »
Except that my bulgogi wasn’t really barbecued; I hope nobody minds. This is something I’ve been meaning to try for years, ever since tasting it at a teeny Korean restaurant; when I saw packages of paper-thinly sliced beef at Arirang Market (beside Community Natural Foods on 10th) I bought one, which landed in the freezer when I didn’t get around to making bulgogi.
Bulgogi is very thinly sliced beef (to do it yourself, freeze the meat first, to make it easier to slice paper-thin) marinated in soy, sugar, sesame oil and garlic, then barbecued (or in my case, quickly stir-fried), then served with rice and spicy little salads and garnish; all I could come up with in less time than it took for the rice to cook was a quick cucumber salad, spiced up with a squirt of red chili paste. Sometimes bulgogi is served with lettuce leaves and garlic and chilies, with instructions to make your own lettuce rolls with the beef.
So my New Wednesday Resolution is to use at least one thing from the freezer every day for the next while, so as to free up some real estate for the impending onslaught of applesauce, cranberry-applesauce and so forth. As it stands, I can’t even make ice. One down, an avalanche of barely identifiable yogurt containers and zip-lock baggies to go.
Bulgogi
3/4-1 lb. thinly sliced beef (I used ribeye; apparently sirloin is acceptable as well)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 Tbsp. white or brown sugar
1 Tbsp. sesame seeds
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
canola or sesame oil, for cooking
1/2 onion, thinly sliced, or 2 green onions, chopped
1 carrot, coarsely grated (optional)
Put the beef into a zip-lock bag; add the soy sauce, sugar, sesame seeds, sesame oil and garlic, seal the bag and squish it around to combine it all well. Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight, or freeze for up to 6 months.
Heat up a large skillet and add a drizzle of canola and sesame oil (if you have it). If you are using white or yellow onions and want to cook them a little longer than you will the beef, saute them for a few minutes, until starting to turn golden. Otherwise, add the onion and carrot to the beef in a bowl, and saute the mixture a little at a time, without crowding the pan, just until the beef cooks through (it will be quick). Transfer the cooked beef to a plate or bowl and add extra oil as you need it. When the beef is cooked, serve immediately with steamed rice, pouring any excess liquid that has accumulated in the bottom of the bowl overtop.
Serves 4.
Marinated Cucumber Salad
1/2 sweet onion
1 Tbsp. vinegar
1 English cucumber, thinly sliced
1 small carrot, coarsely grated
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
1 Tbsp. sugar or honey
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 squirt hot chili paste (the stuff in the squeeze bottle)
Put the onion in a medium bowl, cover it with cold water, add the vinegar and let it sit for 15 minutes (this will mellow out the onion a bit); drain well and add the cucumber and grated carrot.
In a small bowl, stir together the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, garlic and chili paste, stir with a fork and pour over the cucumber mixture. Serve right away, or let it marinate for an hour or two. Serves 4-6.
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September 17 2008 | beef and salads | 11 Comments »
I didn’t follow through with my shrimp idea at lunch, but had a couple extra chicken breasts (or chicken chests, as my friend Sue’s dad used to call them when we were kids; a name I can’t seem to shake now) left over from the ones I thawed to grill this morning at CBC, which ended up on top of a grilled pizza. (It went over very well, thank you. You should try it.) I also had half a jar of the lime-cumin vinaigrette I used for the corn and black bean salad (which I revived the remainder of with a fresh tomato and handful of parsley), and so poured it over the chicken and let it sit for a bit while I fired up the barbecue.
Or not. It was out of gas.
So I pan fried them. Which seems so dull. I felt like the Mom from any number of household product ads, wearing beige slacks and a tailored blue shirt with sensible flats (except that I wasn’t), sautéing up skinless chicken breasts for my family. Then I gave the dog his heartworm pill and Mike put up my spice rack. Is this that domestic bliss I keep hearing so much about?
All this in 27 degree heat, while W watched Christmas Sing-Along Classics, the only DVD he wanted to bring home from the library today. Fortunately it was the stop-animation version with Rudolph, Frosty et al, but at this rate (I’m also working on a few Christmas articles and planning recipes for some Thanksgiving shows we’re taping on Thursday) I’ll be into Easter by the time I should be Christmas shopping.
Not that I’m complaining.
I wonder what Sarah Palin’s family is having for dinner?
September 16 2008 | chicken & turkey | 3 Comments »
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